9.08 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Searching for clear skies, the Badger Creek Wilderness sounded promising, so I set out to the east. I wanted to do a different section than I usually do. So I planned a loop from High Prairie, up Lookout Mt., down to Gumjuwac saddle, over Gunsight Butte down to Jean Lake and back to the trailhead by way of the Bennett Pass road. I ended up only going as far as the viewpoint from Gunsight Butte. Bennett road was closed to cars. Once at the viewpoint on Gunsight it seemed possible that the road might be completely washed out in one section and that section was pretty near the road's junction with the trailhead. The angle of view was to bad to tell for certain and it might not even have been the washout I was looking at, but it was already late in the day and the idea of having to walk almost all the way back to the TH find that it was impassable, then back track a few miles and then still go back up over Lookout Mountain was unappealing. So instead of a loop I just made it an out and back. Which was great I didn't mind seeing the same views twice. Wonderful day, smoke free and just enough clouds to make it dynamic.
